More than 15 years after Friends’ final episode, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer are returning for an exclusive special for HBO’s new streaming service HBO Max.
Friends, originally airing from 1994 to 2004, detailed the lives of three men and women living in an apartment complex in New York City. Over its run it ran for 10 seasons and its final episode boasted over 52.5 million viewers, making it the most watched TV show of the 2000s.
Rumors have been brewing since October when Jennifer Aniston posted a cast reunion photo on Instagram.
According to Variety, each of the original six will receive more than $2.5 million each for the special. However, such pay is justified as according to Warner Brothers Entertainment, sales of digital and physical copies of Friends have tripled since the show left Netflix at the beginning of this year, leaving dedicated fans unable to get their fix.
The special will be released alongside all 236 episodes of friends on HBO Max and will be directed by Ben Winston who will be accompanied by executive producers Kevin Bright, Marta Kauffman, and David Crane. All six of the stars are also executive producing with Emma Conway and James Longman as co-producers. Warner Bros. Unscripted, Alternative Television, and Fulwell 73 Productions will collectively produce the program.
According to Kevin Reilly, the chief content officer for HBO Max, the reunion special “will capture the spirit of a time when friends – and audiences gathered together in real-time.”
HBO Max is set to launch in May and will contain exclusives such as South Park, The Big Bang Theory, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The Big Bang Theory and South Park reportedly cost Warner Media over 1.5 billion dollars to acquire for the platform.
The special is currently untitled and unscripted as it appears to be in the early stages of development.